hooverette
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 0.00 in modern English
16
Scrabble Score
10
Letters
1
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A simple housedress with robe-style sash and wrap front, worn especially in United States in the 1930s and 1940s, with one section overlapping another; when dirty, the overlap could be reversed so a clean section was on top again, reducing laundry.
noun
Alternative letter-case form of Hooverette.
Example Sentences
- "The Hooverette can be worn as a dress or as an apron."
- "“I have so few opportunities to wear such a dress, that I thought I'd better take every one that offered.” “In Paris you would need such a frock every evening,” observed Lynnette admiringly. “I'd rather stay at home and wear Hooverettes […]”"
- "During this period, Sears, Roebuck and Company sold Hooverettes, which were inexpensive, simple, wraparound dresses. They were reversible, so the whole dress could be flipped inside out for a different look."
- "Cotton broadcloth hooverette gives double service by reversing the overlapping front"
- "And over her dress she wore the hooverette. She didn't wear it for any hygienic purpose, only to protect her dress."
- "WHAT TO LOOK FOR: SMOCKS include the snug-fitting hooverette, […]"
Etymology
Like many things used by impoverished people during the Great Depression (e.g. Hoover hogs, Hoovervilles), the dress was named after Herbert Hoover, US president when the Depression began, + -ette. (It has also been suggested that the name might not refer to the inexpensiveness but liken the dress's effectiveness as work clothing to Hoover's pre-presidential career as an effective administrator of aid to Europe after the First World War.)
Word Breakdown
- Suffix: ette